Why ‘Depp v. Heard’ trial ruled in favour of Johnny Depp and not Amber Heard

Johnny Depp and Amber Heard’s trial in 2022 made waves across the world as fans awaited on who would win the defamation trial.

During the infamous trial, intimate details of their lives were laid bare as the court proceedings were televised live.

A jury ultimately found Heard liable for defamation (and found that one statement by Depp's former attorney defamed Heard), and ordered Heard to pay compensatory and punitive damages to her ex-husband, per CNN.

Now, Netflix newly released a documentary, Depp v. Heard, which will revisit the livestreamed court battle over a 2018 op-ed in The Washington Post in which the Aquaman actress suggested she suffered “domestic abuse” at the hands of the Pirates of the Caribbean actor.

Depp had filed a $50 million defamation suit, and Heard, his ex-wife, countersued for $100 million.

The three-part documentary will take a look at the backlash against Heard and will deeply look into the testimonies so viewers can analyse the proper account of the trial. Moreover, it will also look into the evidence that was excluded from the trial which may have ruled the verdict in favour of Depp.

Evidence not included in the Depp vs Heard trial

After Amber Heard was allegedly kicked by Johnny Depp to the floor of the plane on a flight from Boston to Los Angeles in 2014, Stephen Deuters, Depp’s former assistant, texted her.

In the U.K. trial, the text exchange was allowed but not in the U.S. trial as it was ruled as hearsay.

Deuters claimed to TMZ in 2016 that his texts had been changed.

Heard’s lawyer said that Deuters “challenged the validity of the text messages in the U.K. proceedings but when presented with the forensic evidence verifying the validity, Depp withdrew his objection on the basis of validity.”

She also claimed to USA Today that a “SIGNIFICANT amount of damaging evidence to the Plaintiff” was excluded from the trial.

However, Heard’s sister, Whitney Henriquez testified that she witnessed Depp physically assaulting her sister. She was the only one to do so.